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Cited by 187Stress Responses and CortisolHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlBreastfeeding Practices and Influences

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 61 of the 61 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Responses to Laboratory Psychosocial Stress in Postpartum Women

Altemus, Margaret, Redwine, Laura S., Leong, Yeung-Mei, Frye, Cheryl A., Porges, Stephen W., Sue Carter, C.·2001·Psychosomatic Medicine
DOI 10.1097/00006842-200109000-00015
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Lactation has been associated with attenuated hormonal responses to exercise stress in humans. This study was designed to determine the effect of lactation on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and anxiety responses to psychological stress. METHOD: The Trier Social Stress Test was administered to 24 lactating women, 13 postpartum nonlactating women, and 14 healthy control women in the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Lactating women were stressed at least 40 minutes after last feeding their infant. RESULTS: ACTH, cortisol, heart rate, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, and subjective anxiety ratings were all significantly increased in response to the psychological stress (all p <.0001). There were no differences among the three groups in any of these responses to the stress. However, postpartum nonlactating women did have a persistently higher systolic blood pressure and lower cardiac vagal tone than the lactating women and control subjects. In addition, the typical negative correlation between cardiac vagal tone and heart rate was consistently higher in lactating women than nonlactating postpartum women and controls, which suggests stronger vagal control of heart rate in lactating women. In addition, there was no change in oxytocin or allopregnanolone in response to the stress, and baseline oxytocin and allopregnanolone levels did not differ among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that physiological and subjective responses to social stress are not attenuated in lactating women tested at least one hour after feeding their infant. However, enhanced vagal control of cardiac reactivity was observed in lactating women. In addition, postpartum women who did not lactate showed evidence of increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic nervous system tone.

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Crossref · 10.1097/00006842-200109000-00015

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Altemus, 1995, J Clin Endo Metab, 80, 2954
  2. Izzo, 1999, Clin Exp Obstet Gynecol, 26, 221
  3. Seeman, 1994, Endocrine Rev, 15, 233
  4. Komesaroff, 1999, J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 84, 606

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Metadata

Authors
Altemus, M., Redwine, L. S., Leong, Y.-M., Frye, C. A., Porges, S. W., & Sue Carter, C.
Affiliations
  • Cornell University (US)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
Corresponding author
Altemus, Margaret
ORCID
Venue
Psychosomatic Medicine
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2001-09
Volume
63
Issue
5
Pages
814-821
ISSN
0033-3174 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1097/00006842-200109000-00015
OpenAlex
W1993744946
Cited by
187
References
61
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 11
FWCI
3.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychosomatic Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5k05mh001050-03)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K05-MH 01050)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Breastfeeding Practices and Influences
Keywords
lactation, postpartum women, psychosocial stress, Trier Social Stress Test, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, ACTH, cortisol, heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac vagal tone, autonomic nervous system, anxiety, oxytocin, allopregnanolone, infant feeding
MeSH terms
Adult, Affect, Analysis of Variance, Autonomic Nervous System, Bottle Feeding, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Lactation, Oxytocin, Pregnanolone, Stress, Psychological, Case-Control Studies, Postpartum Period

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